Even before the NSW corruption watchdog handed down its latest finding, the Liberal Party had begun scrubbing its celebrations of former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian from its online presence.
On Thursday, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) released its investigation into Berejiklian and former MP Daryl Maguire, finding that Berejiklian had engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”. The inquiry began as a probe into the possible corrupt conduct of Maguire — who potentially faces criminal charges — but expanded to the former Coalition premier after she was compelled to reveal the relationship in public hearings in 2020.
ICAC’s announcement of the corruption investigation prompted Berejiklian to resign as premier in 2021. Despite the seriousness of the investigation, parts of the Liberal Party and its leaders thanked her for her work.
The NSW Liberal Party tweeted: “On behalf of our members, thank you @GladysB for your outstanding service to our community, our state and our party.”
The tweet linked to a statement from then-NSW Liberal Party president Philip Ruddock who wrote that Berejiklian “always put the needs of the people of our state first”.
While the tweet remains, the statement was removed from the NSW Liberal Party website some time after November 10 2022, according to the Internet Archive. The URL for the statement now leads to a message saying: “The page you were looking for wasn’t found.”
Additionally, the Twitter accounts for both the Liberal Party of Australia and Liberal Party of NSW now have fewer tweets than they did last week. According to social media analytics website Social Blade, @LiberalAus and @LiberalNSW had 181 and nine fewer tweets respectively after last Thursday, suggesting tweets may have been deleted.
Other tributes to Berejiklian remain, notably across the Liberal Party’s various social media accounts, alongside those of figures including Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg.
